This invention relates to the construction of a gas cooktop or range in a particularly efficient and compact arrangement.
In smaller kitchens, space for a gas cooktop is limited. One common width for smaller residential ranges is 30 inches, with the cooktop having four burners arranged in the form of a rectangle.
In some busy cooking situations, it is desirable to have more than four burners. Further, in some situations, it is desirable to have a particularly large container positioned over a burner. With the compact four burner arrangement, a large container cannot be centrally positioned on any of the units without hanging over a side edge of the cooktop, and that space is typically not available for such positioning because of an adjacent counter, wall or other restriction. Further, even if space is available adjacent the sides of the cooktop, the back units could not be utilized because the container would engage the short back wall of the cooktop or the adjacent wall in the kitchen. If the front units were employed, the container might hang over the front edge of the cooktop and be in a somewhat precarious or dangerous position.
Cooktops are of course available having more than four burners, but the burners are not arranged sufficiently compact to fit a 30″ width requirement.
Accordingly, the need exists for an improved gas cooktop or range construction to satisfy the foregoing objectives.